Leathergoods brand Barnes and Moore values the beauty that comes from slow, considered manufacturing – an ethos it has in common with its supplier, J&FJ Baker, a tannery whose leathers take 14 months to produce using traditional, time-honoured methods.

It is very unusual for a tannery to create leathers using methods not much changed for hundreds of years, but this is precisely what sets J&FJ Baker apart. Most of the buildings and many of the processes are the same as they were when the family started the business in Devon, south England, in 1862. And the history goes back even further: there has been a tannery on the site since Roman times – the tanners and technicians following in footsteps potentially almost 2,000 years old.

Today’s site has been updated and expanded, but the method remains largely unchanged. Bark is brought in from coppiced woods. The hides are sourced from beef cattle raised locally in Devon. Manpower is as important as machinery. “Our method of pit liming and pit tanning, using no mechanical action, produces leather with a beautiful grain,” managing director Andrew Parr tells us. “It also has a very tight fibre structure, giving it strong tensile strength and making it hardwearing but light.”

The raw hides arrive salted and are soaked in pits of lime and water to loosen the hair follicles for the dehairing and fleshing machines. Some are dehaired by hand in the traditional way, over a beam using a blade. The oak bark is chopped by hand and fed into the tanyard pits, creating liquor in which hides are gently washed for three months. They are moved by a 400-year-old mechanism powered by a waterwheel, which grinds the bark into smaller pieces, and ensures an even tan. The hides are then layered on top of each other, with oak bark scattered between them, for another nine months.

After the tanning pits, special blends of fatliquors and oils are added, with the harness and stirrup leather further soaked in tallow and grease. The leather is dried in the drying shed, heated by a biomass boiler, which uses waste from the tannery to power it. Four coats of stain are added by hand to ensure a deep and even colour throughout the surface of the hide, and the hide is finished with oils.

As a comparison, at other tanneries, vegetable tanning with most pit systems takes around eight to 12 weeks. Combined systems using both pits and drums takes the process down to a couple of weeks and an all-drum set-up can complete the process within days. For other tannages, such as chrome and wet white, typically the tanneries will want to work on raw to wet blue or wet white in no more than 72 hours. Processing will also be quicker for the chrome and wet white.

At Bakers, some of the machines are more than 100 years old and keeping them in working order takes knowledgeable and skilled engineers, particularly as many of the parts are no longer manufactured. A decommissioned machine is often kept on site for parts and spares. This way of working is not without its challenges, admits Mr Parr, especially in cold weather. “The cold slows the whole process,” he says. “And all labour has to be trained by us, as the skills needed are different from other tanneries.”

However, this lengthy, laborious process protects the hides’ skin's natural fibres, making the leather strong and hardwearing, producing a high-quality leather. “These features cannot be met by rapid veg tan methods,” adds Mr Parr.

Gap in the market

This unique set of attributes appeals to shoemakers, furniture makers, equestrian companies and leathergoods brands, among them, Barnes and Moore, whose customers value the way the leather ages. “Andrew Parr is totally hands on, and you’ll often find him somewhere deep in the tannery, getting fully involved with the hard work that makes producing this leather possible,” Barnes and Moore founder Steve Moss says. “We have total respect for that, and the fact that the dedication of the Bakers team makes it all possible in the 21st century.”

Mr Moss’s  journey with leather started more than 15 years ago, when he was taught traditional leather techniques from saddlers in Walsall, an area in central England once famous for equestrian leathergoods and saddlemaking. He took up leathercrafting as a creative outlet and discovered it was therapeutic. Requests from friends and family, with glowing feedback, gave him the confidence to move into making full time, after determining a gap in the market. “The type of customer we appeal to is one that is focused on appreciation of craftmanship and the resulting quality, rather than heavy branding and marketing,” he explains.

Bags, belts and wallets are made at a studio in the Midlands. Each belt goes through 11 processes, with buckles crafted by hand at a local foundry. Bags combine waxed cotton, sail cloth and leathers, with wallet leather also sourced from tanneries including Sweden’s Tarnsjo, Horween in the US and Lo Stivale in Tuscany.

Claims of origin

Working with high quality materials, by hand, comes at a cost, which represents the craftsmanship and time taken to create high-quality goods. However, Mr Moss has noted several brands that are misleading people by falsely claiming that their goods are made in Britain, when they are headquartered here but manufactured overseas, where labour is cheaper.

“It’s an all-too-common practice, as customers are being duped by the smoke and mirrors of misleading labelling and marketing,” he says. “People feel reassured by the image of the Union Jack [flag] as part of a brand’s identity. Many brands are operating in increasingly competitive mainstream markets where the costs of making their goods in the UK simply doesn’t add up, hence the drive to outsource labour overseas. That’s fine, but more transparency is needed to stop the public thinking that all brands are operating this way. Thankfully, in today’s digital age, more and more people are becoming aware of companies who aren’t telling the full story about the origin of their goods, and becoming more savvy about manufacturing generally.”

Knowledge is power

This desire to know how and where things are made can only boost leather’s credentials, if the story is told well. For tannery owner Andrew Parr, the fact that leather will never wear out and looks better as it ages needs to be better publicised – perhaps in a similar way to the Red Tractor campaign, which promotes quality in British food and drink. “Consumers should also be more aware of the sustainability of leather compared to man-made materials,” he adds. “The hides we use are a by-product of the meat industry. To dispose of them, other than tanning, would be a waste of a natural resource, as well as  being environmentally unfriendly. The oak bark we use is a by-product of coppicing for charcoal. Coppice Oak regrows naturally from its roots and can be harvested every 15 to 20 years. This is done in rotation, thus keeping woods alive.”

Barnes & Moore anticipates slow but steady growth, with online sales, and goods available through selected retailers. It is working with new agents and retailers in Japan, China and Hong Kong, where customers value the attributes. “People there have a lot of respect for traditionally manufactured UK goods, they see the value in the craftsmanship and quality of materials, which makes English handmade items highly coveted,” says Mr Moss. The next focus will be the US.
Despite the challenges and the costs associated with this kind of labour-intensive manufacture, the future looks bright, as consumers increasingly value transparency in the supply chain and the honed skills, time and effort that goes into producing beautiful leather and leathergoods. “As long as we continue to make quality goods with premium materials,” says Mr Moss, “then the market will be open to support us.”

It takes a tattoo artist many hours to ink designs onto a collection of veg-tanned wallets. The leather is from a small, family run tannery in Tuscany.
Credit: Barnes and Moore

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